Trump’s ICE airport idea came after a radio host pitched it on Fox News
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is seen at a TSA checkpoint at Atlanta’s international airport.
By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — “Linda from Arizona,” a caller on a conservative talk radio show, might deserve the credit or blame for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deploying to airports across the United States today.
The caller said on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” last Friday, “I think I have a solution to the TSA problem.” She said, “We need to bring in ICE agents.”
“It’s kind of a brilliant idea,” co-host Clay Travis said.
About 24 hours later, on Saturday afternoon, President Trump announced his vision for ICE agents at airports.
What happened in between? Travis appeared on one of Trump’s favorite Fox News shows and personally pitched the idea.
CNN searched TV transcript databases and found no other mentions of the idea on major networks until Travis brought it up.
On Monday, when ICE agents began the highly unusual and controversial assignment, Travis said, “I don’t think there’s any doubt” that the call to the radio show inspired Trump to take action.
“This is why I always say, this is the most influential radio platform on the planet,” he remarked.
“Well done, Linda,” co-host Buck Sexton added.
During a Monday morning press gaggle, when asked whose idea it was to deploy ICE to airports, Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, “Mine. That was mine.”
He then likened the idea to inventing the paperclip. “It was so simple, and everybody that looked at it thought, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’” he said. “ICE was my idea.”
However, “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,” which airs on local stations across the country, certainly believes their caller deserves credit for the idea.
On Saturday, the show’s Facebook page touted its influence: “On Friday, a caller named Linda proposed a brilliant idea. Friday night, Clay talked about it on Fox. Today, President Trump took the advice! Way to go, Linda.”
The Fox-to-Trump pipeline
Trump has a decade-long track record of watching Fox and posting his reactions on social media.
Travis acknowledged Fox’s influence during Monday’s radio show: “I try to say yes to every Fox News invite. I’m on Fox News almost every day. Because so many people inside of Republican politics watch Fox News, and if you have good ideas, you can help to direct the trajectory of decision-making.”
After playing an audio clip of Trump claiming he conceived of the ICE deployment himself, Travis said, “I give President Trump credit for recognizing great ideas.”
Last Friday’s radio conversation was prompted by a congressional standoff over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The stalemate — due in part to Democratic demands to change Trump’s immigration enforcement practices — has led to a five-week partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
Long lines at some TSA security checkpoints are one of the knock-on effects, which led “Linda in Arizona” to call in. (Radio show callers are often identified by their first name and state.)
Linda called in with a hopeful tone, believing her idea could ease some of the long lines at major airports.
“What we need to do is we need to supplement where we’re missing out on TSA agents,” by bringing in ICE, she said.
Travis — who has interviewed Trump in the past and is well-aware of the president’s Fox fixation — invoked both Linda and Trump during a Friday evening appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
“What if President Trump announced that ICE agents were now going to be supplementing TSA agents inside all of the airports?”
Watters’ guest host, Charlie Hurt, looked intrigued by the idea.
Prominent pro-Trump social media accounts amplified the segment and cheered the idea of deploying ICE on Saturday morning.
‘Linda from Arizona’ returns
On Monday, Linda went back on “Clay and Buck” as the co-hosts celebrated their apparent influence.
“I’ve been trying to call in for over 15 years, and I never got in before,” Linda said.
On Monday evening, Travis said he had obtained an autographed Trump hat for his caller, signed, “To Linda, Love!”
And Sexton indicated that they’d given her a direct way to call into the show in the future. He quipped, “If you have any thoughts on the Federal Reserve, how to open the Strait of Hormuz, Linda, you know where to reach us.”
The radio hosts seemed convinced that the ICE deployment will be a political and logistical win for the Trump administration. Other commentators, however, have heaped skepticism on the idea.
Trump’s Truth Social post seemed to catch his own administration off guard. Officials offered conflicting statements about what functions ICE agents would actually perform at airports.
On Sunday, Hurt was back on Fox, in his usual role as weekend-morning co-host, and he interviewed a TSA worker and local union leader. Hurt asked, “What is it that ICE agents can do on the ground that would be helpful to your members?”
Not much, the Dallas-based agent, Johnny Jones, said. He sounded apprehensive about the hastily assembled plan.
“It takes about five to six months to become a certified officer,” he said, so “I couldn’t imagine what functions they’re going to do other than just kind of stand outside the checkpoint or maybe sit on the exit lane.”
Jones warned that the ICE agents could wind up being a “distraction,” adding, “I don’t know what kind of interaction this is going to cause.”
Hurt wrapped the segment without any mention that Fox might have inspired Trump’s ICE deployment plan in the first place.
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This story has been updated with additional information.
